Frozen 2 - Forest of Shadows: What if?
by keanamaris.enriquez
Summary: Spoilers for Forest of Shadows. An alternative scene of one of the most surprising moments in the book.


"We have to go help them!" Anna yelled, desperation making her voice change. The villagers-they had no idea of the dangers they were in. They were all asleep! She took a step forward to run. This was her fault, she brought the wolf back to life, she needed to fix it. She took a step forward to run, but her foot stayed put, glued to the ground as thoug it had been locked in place. _What?_ Anna looked down to see frost rising up from the ground, the frost linking like a chain and wraps around her foot. She looked back up, Elsa stood in front of her, holding the sword in one hand. She no longer looked like Anna's older sister, or a queen. She looked like a soldier.

"Elsa." Her words sounded small even to her own ears. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry," Elsa said, and Anna could hear the truth in her sister's words, but still, Elsa made no move to stop the advancing frost. It circled around Anna, moving back and forth on itself like yarn on a loom to form a white tapestry, rising higher and higher. "I failed to protect the kingdom," Elsa said, "but I'm not going to fail you, too!"

Failed? Anna didn't know what Elsa was talking about. Elsa never failed at anything.

"Elsa," Anna said as the frost crystals scattered up over her head, dancing into a domed roof. "I don't need to be protected!"

It felt like Anna's whole world being had contracted and collapsed in on itself, like a black hole or a dark abyss. She felt as though she'd become no bigger than a head of a pin. The last frost link clicked into place, finishing not a tapestry, but a bubble-like tent. Anna found she could move her feet again, the frost chain that had held her to the ground slithering away to weave itself into the structure. It didn't matter, though, if Anna could move her feet or not, because Elsa hadn't bothered to make a door.

"I love you," Elsa said, sounding for a moment like she was younger than Anna. And then she was running, sprinting down the dirt path to the village below. The sword, Revolute, glows in her hand.

Anna yells for Elsa to come back. She pounded her fists against the frost, but the walls were strong, solid, and cold, It kept Anna locked. Anna was useless as she watched Elsa reach the end of the path towards the Nattmara. She was useless as the Nightmare Wolf caught Elsa's scent and started to turn towards her sister, its claws extended. Anna watched as Elsa crossed forward and she wielded the sword that could defeat the wolf. Anna held her breath as she watched, too far away to help, but at the same time too close, because she could see it what was happening. Anna could see saliva that hung from the Nattmara's fangs as it began to circle her sister, its great yellow eyes locked on Elsa.

The wolf and Elsa circled each other. Elsa's cape and her mother's shawl flowed from the gusts of winds as Elsa twirled one hand and clutched the sword with the other. But then, the wolf attacks. Elsa whirled away as the the wolf's teeth snapped on the thin air. It moved away for a moment, then it struck again. Now, Elsa laid between the wolf's giant paws, sprawled like a spider, her limbs askew, and her hand swordless.

The sword flew through the air and landed a few feet behind Elsa, Anna saw Elsa's hand sweep, trying to feel for the sword without taking her eyes away from the Nattmara. Anna shouted to Elsa telling her where the sword is but she knew that Elsa wouldn't able to hear her.

The wolf licked it maw and its fangs poised above Elsa. Anna saw her sister take a deep breath. As the wolf lunged down, Elsa lunged and grabbed the sword. She held it up in front of her, the blade flashes in the light of the sun, and then the queen thrusts the sword it into the roof of the Nattmara's mouth.

Anna waited for the giant wolf to fall and turn into dust but the wolf bit the sword down. It shattered like glass. Bits of the blade sparkled as they scattered to the ground, raining down on Elsa, now laying completely defenseless in front of the Nightmare Wolf.  
"ELSA!" Anna roared, pounding at her prison of frost. "ELSA! USE YOUR MAGIC!"

Elsa turned her head, it almost seemed that Elsa was looking at her little sister. Then, Anna saw that the frost bubble had started to melt. If Elsa's magic was dissolving, that must mean that Elsa was weakening.

But Anna was now free!

She began to run down the path even though she knew that she wouldn't make it in time. But she had to try. Elsa would had done the same for her. Anna called for Elsa's name. It hear Anna's cries, and the wolf no longer looked at Elsa but to Anna. As Anna ran to her sister, the wolf jumped, no longer pinning Elsa on the ground. It landed in front of Anna who stood there, frozen with fear.

Elsa, weak from the fight with wolf, slowly rolled to see what was happening. "Anna... get away from it!" Elsa weakly tells her little sister. But, Anna was to scared to move or do anything.

Then, the wolf did something the two sisters didn't expect it to do. It suddenly spoke to the fear frozen princess. "Thank you for bringing me to this world. I have haunted your dreams for a long time and now I can haunt other dreams and bring their nightmare come to life. " It said with a grizzly voice. "You know what happens next, you've seen what happened to the others. But for the one who brought me here in this world, I will make an exception. I will give you a gift. Unlike my other prey, I will trap you into a dream, a dream where you never want to leave, a dream where you will be happy that you will forget that you are in one. Do we have a deal?"

"No, Anna...don't do it." Elsa says as she tries to get up.

"Don't listen to her, my dear. The choice is yours to make." It said. But Anna, didn't say anything, and the wolf took that silence as a yes. Its white fur shifted into a color of glittering black as the wolf morphed into a cloud of black sand and then the sand swirled all around Anna. The sand goes inside her through her nose and mouth. Anna holds on to her throat as if she is being choked. Anna looked at Elsa, "Anna?"

Anna falls onto the ground. "Anna!" Elsa sobbed. Anna sprawled on the ground, her eyes closed and her strawberry blonde hair coming loose from its braid and spilling onto fallen leaves. Even though she knew what was going to happen next, she wasn't prepared when her sister stood up and Anna's eyes fluttered open, revealing glowing yellow eyes. But something happened to her that did not happen to the others who were victims of the wolf. Her hair turned black, just like the wolf's fur.

Elsa's stomach heaved at the sight of the wolf's eyes in her little sister's familiar face. "Anna?" she called out hesitantly. Anna raised her hands and black sand came out and blasted Arendelle with the sand. "Anna," Elsa sobbed, not knowing what to do. She didn't want to use her magic because she didn't want to hurt Anna. "Anna!"

But the figure who was her sister did not even turn to face her. Elsa gathered the shards of the broken sword and placed them in her pocket. She looked at her sister one more time. "Anna," she managed to croak out one last time. Then, Elsa saw Anna at last turn to her. She sees her give a dark smile and raises her hands, black sand erupted from her palms toward Elsa.

Darkness swirled around Elsa, and then, there was nothing.

* * *

Elsa opened her eyes and found herself nose to carrot with Olaf. "Olaf, what are you doing here?" She looked away from Olaf and saw three tall masts, each strung with the ropes and nets of a working ship. "Elsa's awake!" Olaf shouted.

"How did you get here?" Elsa asked the snowman. "How did I get here?" She looked around and beside her, she saw Sven and Kristoff laying on the ship floor. Kristoff was holding one of Olaf's foot and placing it on his head as if he had a concussion. "You were asleep for a few hours"

"Hoo-hoo!" Oaken said, stomping into view. "We watched everything from the harbor! When Scary Anna vanished inside the castle, we snuck ashore and carried you and Kristoff back, We thought both of you would rest better with Sven."

"I thought you already sailed away!" The Queen said. She wondered why she did fallen under the nightmare sleep. "We were going to," Tuva, the kingdom blacksmith, called from the ship's stern, her hands on the helm. Elsa looked back at the castle. "Anna... she's..."

"Still in there," Tuva finished. A few minutes later, she yells to Oaken telling him to turn the ship around because they have a kingdom to save.

Oaken steered the ship as Elsa helped Kristoff with the ropes and pulleys of the ship.

"Sharp turn!" Oaken warned, and the next second, he turned the ship to be parallel to the castle gates. But there was still a sizable distance between the ship's deck and land. "This is as close as we can get without smashing the ship!" Oaken called.

Elsa stared down at the water. Kristoff threw a rope and latched it securely to a streetlamp. Elsa climbed up the rope and soared into the air and over the water, and then, let go. With a thump, she landed on the castle grounds. Elsa winced, not because of the pain, but because she should have made a quieter entrance. But luckily, no one heard it. Elsa rushed inside the castle to find her sister.

She searched every room of the castle to find Anna. When she searched the Great Hall, Anna was there. Elsa slowly pushed the double doors open. Anna was sitting on the throne, her yellow eyes staring unblinking into a dream that the wolf told her that she didn't want leave, her hair still black.

"Anna?" she whispered. "Anna?"

But her little sister's expression didn't change. Not wanting to startle Anna, Elsa slowly moved towards her. "Anna! Anna! Wake up! Whatever the Nattmara's making you see, it's not real! Anna! You have to wake up, please!" Elsa said as she gently shakes her. Suddenly, she hears a deep long growl. "She cannot wake up, she has chosen where wants to stay." Then, the wolf attacks.

Elsa was prepared, she left her cloak unclasped. The wolf leapt at her and Elsa flung her cloak off her shoulders and ran towards the wolf and sprinted between the wolf's front paws. Its teeth snapped down around the cloak, catching only fabric as Elsa let go of it and raced under the protection of the belly of the beast.

Elsa ran towards the throne. "Anna!" Elsa cried, staggering toward the throne. "Whatever you're seeing, it isn't real! It's just a dream! Remember me, remember Mother and Father!"

She hears a creepy laugh. She turns around to look at the wolf. "She does remember your parents because the dream I gave to her is one where you never had magic, where you two sisters were never separated, and where your parents never left." The wolf pounces but Elsa creates a thick wall of ice, the wolf scratched at the ice trying to escape its prison.

Elsa runs towards Anna, but she sees something fly past her and enter Anna, it was the wolf. Anna stands up out of the throne and started to walk toward Elsa.  
"Dreams hold our memories. Sleep holds our dreams. And darkness... it holds our sleep. Anna's heart belongs to the darkness now. Now excuse me, " Elsa refused to believe that Anna would give in to the darkness. All she needed to do to wake Anna up from her dream was to give Anna something she remembers before she was trapped in the dream.

Wolf-Anna raises their hands and a rush of black sand spilled from their palms. It began to pile and form a barrier between them, filling up the Great Hall. "While you're occupied with this, I will just watch her dreams as you suffer from these sands." It said. Elsa could see the wolf possessed Anna through the black sand she walks through the sand as if it was a blizzard and grabbed her hand, Anna yanked it away but Elsa held on tight.

Elsa then remembered what Anna told her back on the frozen river. Anna started to have nightmares about the wolf the night they were separated, but when they were together again, the nightmares of the wolf vanished. Elsa realized that to defeat the wolf, the sisters have to do it together. "Anna! Do you remember what Father used to say to us when we were little?! We always rely and lean on each other. We need each other if we want this wolf to be gone and save Arendelle! You didn't give up on me, I'm not giving up on you," Was it her imagination, or was Anna squeezing her hand back. Elsa wasn't sure if she was getting through to Anna, but still she hung on, despite the growing swarm of black sand. Then, Anna lifts her head and black sand streams out from her eyes and mouth

Anna's eyes shut tight, and then... "Elsa?"

"Anna!" Elsa cried. "I'm here! I'm always here!" Anna turned her head and Elsa saw the her eyes were no longer yellow, but back to light blue. Then, they see that the dust that was the wolf turns back into a wolf a few feet away from them. It threw its head back and howled in anger, the sound echoed through through the Great Hall.

Anna clutched Elsa's hand tightly. "Why is it still here?" Anna looked at Elsa, who knew what the look meant, Anna wants her to use her magic and blast the wolf. "No!" Elsa shouted. "Fighting the wolf with magic only makes it stronger. You can't ignore your fear because it grows and grows." Anna asks what should she do.

Elsa holds on to Anna's hand. "Do you remember what Father said to us when we were little? "Anna and Elsa always rely and lean on each other for help" I can help you control your fear. Don't let it take control of you. It's the shadow of love. You only fear because you care about me and the kingdom. That is what makes you a great princess and a great sister." Elsa says with a smile.

Anna didn't say anything, but squeezed Elsa's hand and looked at the wolf and looked back at Elsa. "Let's bring it down together." Anna said. "Together" Elsa also said. "Because when we're together, we're stronger." Anna smiled, "And when we're together, I'll be safe and warm because you're going to be right by my side no matter what. "

The giant wolf paused, the winds calmed, and as the wolf took one step towards the sisters, it grew smaller. Once it reached Anna's outstretched hand, the wolf was the size of a wolf-puppy, it still had sharp teeth and claws. Anna felt a hand on her shoulder, "I was afraid of being a bad queen." Elsa said to Anna.

"My fear," Anna said in awe. "I was afraid of being shut out again and being separated from you and to those I love, but I don't need to worry about that anymore. Because I've got you, Elsie." Anna winked at Elsa. "Because when we're together, we are not afraid of anything." Elsa smiled and stayed put as the wolf pup approached. The Nattmara's power was truly done at last.

The wolf-pup touched its nose to Anna's hand and turned into a cloud of sand, shimmering in the air, and then... just a single of black and that laid on the floor before the sisters. With a flick of her hand, Elsa captured it in an ice crystal and caught it in her hand. Then she held it up to the dawn's first ray of light. Elsa led Anna over to the window. "Our love is worthy of defeating any myth. Us. The royal sisters of Arendelle. Like Father said, 'Anna and Elsa always rely and lean on each other'" Elsa pulled back the curtain.

Elsa notices that Anna was looking at the portrait of her father, Elsa places her arm on Anna's shoulder. "Do you want to tell me about that dream?" Elsa asked. Anna closes her eyes, remembering what she saw. "When I woke up, I was a little girl again. Papa was telling us a story, but it wasn't about the Enchanted Forest. It was about how he and Mama met. You didn't have any magic. You looked different." Elsa knew that day, it was the day when they were separated, and she asks Anna how she was different in her dream. Anna tells her that in her dream she had brown hair instead of blonde hair. Anna explains more and more about what occurred in the dream. "Not gonna lie, the wolf was right. The dream felt like it was real. A part of me wanted to stay, but a part of me knew it wasn't real. Then, I heard your voice telling me to wake up. I tried to wake up, but the wolf made the dream more and more real but I fought through them and woke up. Because of you, because..." Anna looked at Elsa, gesturing her to say it. "When we're together, we are stronger together." Anna and Elsa smiled at each other.


End file.
